Examiner's Specific Advice

In the examination you have to write two essays in 1 hour 30 minutes. It is vital to plan your use of time to ensure that you complete both essays. An equal amount of time should be spent on each essay so that all of the key points are covered in a logical, well-structured and cogent manner.

The ability to meet the assessment objectives for this Unit is crucial if high marks are to be obtained. With this in mind, you should spend about 5 minutes on planning each response. The assessment objectives demand that you demonstrate a good level of knowledge and understanding of the study topic. In particular, you should be able to:

• recall, select and use historical knowledge appropriately and communicate knowledge and understanding of history in a clear and effective manner
• demonstrate your understanding of the past through explanation, analysis and supported judgements of

a) key concepts such as causation, consequence, change and continuity
b) relationships between key features of the periods studied.

Careful planning helps maintain focus on the assessment objectives and, therefore, aids the maintenance of relevance. Also, effective planning allows concepts to be handled more easily. For example, a mind map or spider diagram plan for an answer to a question on the reasons for the Iran–Iraq war of 1980–81 would allow you to see the links between causal factors before arriving at a judgement about the relative importance of these factors.

The exemplar essays are answers to the type of question set by examiners on one of the key issue areas from Study Topic 10: Crisis in the Middle East 1948–2003.

Exemplar Question

1. Assess the reasons for the Iran–Iraq war (1980–88). [50 marks]

 

View Exemplar Answer 1

View Exemplar Answer 2